America'z most complete artist

If you're a regular reader and you've noticed some slack around here lately, it's for good reason. I've spent much of the past few months cooking up a tribute to the most underrated major artist in rap music, DJ Quik.



1. America'z Most Complete Artist
2. Sweet Black Pussy
3. Loked Out Hood
4. Get At Me
5. Down, Down, Down feat. Suga Free
6. Tonite
7. Pitch In On A Party
8. I Don't Wanna Party wit U
9. We Still Party
10. Let's Get Down (Tony Toni Toné)
11. Let Me Know (Hi-C)
12. Up 'N Da Club (2nd II None)
13. Hand In Hand
14. Black Mercedes feat. Nate Dogg
15. Do I Love Her? feat. Suga Free
16. Don't Walk Away feat. Suga Free
17. Safe + Sound
18. You'z A Ganxta
19. Dollaz + Sense
20. U Ain't Fresh! feat. Erick Sermon
21. Til Jesus Comes
22. Tha Truth Is... (Mausberg)
23. Trouble RMX
24. Jus Lyke Compton
25. Trust No Bitch (Penthouse Players Clique)
26. Born & Raised In Compton
27. Summer Breeze
28. So Many Wayz
29. 50 Ways feat. Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men
30. Speed
31. Sex Crymee
32. Ni**az Still Trippin' feat. Hi-C
33. Smoke II Much (Fixxers)
34. So Good (Fixxers)
35. Can You Work Wit Dat (Fixxers)
36. I Got That Feelin'
37. Me Wanna Rip Your Girl
38. Chocolate Lover feat. Sexy Leroy & the Chocolate Lovelitez
39. One On 1 feat. El DeBarge

This mix is a labor of love. Although I put countless hours into it, I'm choosing to give it away so more people will hear it. You can download it for free HERE. (New link!)

I made this mix because people sleep on DJ Quik. Maybe they've forgotten or maybe they never understood, but people don't get the breadth or depth of his talent.

Quik's commercial peak was his platinum 1991 debut, Quik Is the Name. Although he released three more gold albums, it's been years since he's had a label push and, aside from a fluke Fixxers single in 2007, since he's had a hit on the radio.

Here's the thing, though-- Quik never fell off.

Where most veteran artists either make the same record over and over until everyone stops paying attention or lose their identity scrambling to co-opt whatever other people think is hot, Quik's career has been about devotion to his craft, steady growth and experimentation. Much of Quik's best work has been done outside of the spotlight.

When people talk about Quik they usually talk about his production. Aside from Dr. Dre, no one has been more influential in shaping the sound of L.A. rap over the last two decades.

As much as I admire his beats, I'm a bigger fan of Quik's rhyming. I think he's at his best when dissing-- he's ferocious and funny. But there's also an undercurrent of depth that's far more convincing than a lot of the post-Pac clothes-rending that passes for emotion in rap music. When the two are combined on a song like "Til Jesus Comes", the results are unique and a little scary, like, Jesus, you sure you want to go that hard at your own family in public?

If there's an overriding theme to the mix, it's beef. Quik is fearless and maybe just a little too hot-headed for his own good, so over the years he's gone at everybody-- most famously MC Eiht, but at one time or another he's also taken shots at Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, Shemar Moore, Tim Dog, Everlast, the Source magazine, the East Coast, the South, his sister, his wife and, with the exception of Mausberg (R.I.P.), just about every single rapper who has ever been a part of his crew. (Speaking of which, how many crews in rap music are there with a deeper bench? I think the 304 Posse almost ranks with the Juice Crew, Native Tongues and Dungeon Family.)

The 39 songs on the mix are from all phases of Quik's career. Most of the hits are there, but I've drawn heavily from album cuts, collaborations with others in his crew and unreleased material. Although Quik has done great production work for those in his crew, Snoop Dogg, Truth Hurts, 8ball & MJG and others, I chose to limit the selections to songs Quik appears on. I've also downplayed some of the more juvenile gangster shit. Basically I made the mix I wanted to hear. Hopefully it's what you want to hear, too.

For shits and giggles, here's a few dozen songs that I thought about including and are really worth tracking down: "What They Think", "Way 2 Fonky", "Trouble" (AMG's funniest verse ever?), Suga Free's verse on the "Trouble" remix, the original version of 2pac's "Late Night" a/k/a 2nd II None's "Let's Get Higher", Kurupt's "Can't Go Wrong", "Change the Game", "Quik's Groove II", "Bombudd", "California", "Pimpin", "Birdz & Da Beez", 8ball & MJG's "Buck Bounce", "Pacific Coast" a/k/a "Spur of the Moment", Penthouse Players Click's "P.S. Phuk U 2", "Better Neva Than Late" a/k/a "Bitch Diss", "Ev'ryday", "Does the Good Life Even Exist", "It's Like Everyday", "So Cold", "Sure Shot" (Mixmaster Spade!), Suga Free's "Inside Out", Big Syke's "Time Iz Money", "No Bullshit", the original version of "Ni**az Trippin", "No Doubt". I could go on. His catalog is that deep.

If you appreciate this mix, go support Quik. His new collaboration with Kurupt, BlaQKout, drops next Tuesday, June 9th. He and Kurupt are also on tour with a full band. (Bay dudes: he plays SF's Ruby Skye on June 11th with the homeboy Trackademicks as an opener; tickets are available here.)

One final shout: The artwork for the mix is by Aye Jay!, the man behind the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book and a couple other books I wish I had thought of and had the talent to execute. His latest, The Punk Rock Fun Time Activity Book, was released in April.